Extendable supported platform article of furniture



May 26, 1959 G. w. PERRY EXTENDABLE SUPPORTED PLATFORM ARTICLE OFFURNITURE Filed July 8, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 L2 WW2;

United States Patent EXTENDABLE SUPPORTED PLATFORM ARTICLE OF FURNITUREGeorge W. Perry, Chicago, Ill.

Application July 8, 1957, Serial No. 670,408

3 Claims. (Cl. 311-41) This invention relates to a new and improvedbasic article of furniture which may function as a table, bench,platform or raised base. More particularly, the invention is directed toimprovements in extendable articles of furniture and specifically to animproved, extendable platform having a plurality of members interleavedin telescopic arrangement with suitable bracing and support members sodesigned and assembled as to provide a flat, even top surface.

It is well-known that modern, functional furniture has becomeverypopular. Such furniture is often so designed as to provide basicunits, such as for example sectional seats and sofas, so thatcombination of a plurality of such units may afiord either individualseats or enlarged sofas and the like. So, also, tables which may beenlarged by extending the same and then inserting additional boards havebeen known and used for some time. However, to my knowledge no basicunit has been provided which comprises a self-contained, extendableplatform unit which may be combined with other such units or modified toafford articles of furniture such as benches, tables, coffee tables, endtables, bookcase bases or the like, said units capable of being readilyadjusted to aiford any desired size by merely extending or retractingthe platform portion thereof.

It is, therefore, an important object of this invention to provide abasic article of furniture as indicated hereinabove.

Another object is to afford a furniture unit having a platform which maybe readily extended or retracted as desired. An object relating theretois to provide a platform composed of a number of interleaved memberswhich may be readily extended or retracted in telescopic relationship.

Still another object is to provide an article of furniture having anextendable platform which is suitably braced and supported so as toafford a rigid support member throughout its length, even when it isfully extended.

Another object is to so design and assemble the bracing and supportingmembers of said platform, that no portion thereof protrudes above thesurface of the inter- I leaved members.

Still a further object is to alford an extendable platform of the typeindicated which may be readily mounted on support members, such as legs,of varying heights and design so that said supported platform may beused either as a low or high table, as a bench or as a base for otherarticles of furniture in accordance with the dimensions and type ofplatform support selected.

Yet another object is to afliord an article of furniture in which thefunctional extendable members and the assembly thereof comprises animportant part of the modernistic functional design motif of thefurniture itself.

Yet a further object is to afford a basic furniture unit of thecharacter described which is attractive, sturdy,

yet inexpensive.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel featuresof construction, arrangement and a combination of parts hereinafterfully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, andparticularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understoodthat various changes in the form, proportion, size and minor details ofthe structure may be made without departing from the spirit orsacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

For the purpose of facilitating an understanding of my invention, I haveillustrated in the accompanying drawings preferred embodiments thereof,from an inspection of which, when considered in connection with thefollowing description, my invention, i-ts mode of construction, assemblyand operation, and many of its advantages should be readily understoodand appreciated.

Referring to the drawings in which the same characters of reference areemployed to indicate corresponding or similar parts throughout theseveral figures of the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a telescopically extendable furniture unitembodying the principles of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of said unit mounted on legs to afforda table;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the plane of line 33 in Fig. 1 ofthe drawings and viewed in the direction indicated;

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view with central portions of the platformremoved to facilitate illustration of the same; i

Fig. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken on the plane of line S5in Fig. 1 of the drawings;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of the bracing members illustratedin Fig. 4 of the drawings; and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to Fig. 5 but showing amodification of the bracing means.

Referring now to the several figures of the drawings, reference numeral10 indicates generally a table comprising a platform 11 mounted on aplurality of legs such as 12. The legs 12 may be of any conventionaltype but in the embodiment chosen for illustration here comprise anL-shaped bracket 14 supported on a pair of legs.

such as 16 formed by bending a length of metal tubing. One such leg maybe attached at each corner of the bottom surface of the platform 11 byany conventional means as for example screws or rivets such as 18. Itshould, of course, be understood that legs of other designs andconstructions may be substituted for the ones here chosen forillustration and also that other forms of supports may be utilizeddependingupon the type of article of furniture which it is desired toprovide.

Turning now to a more detailed description of the platform, whichembodies the novel features of this invention, it will be noted that theplatform comprises a pair of sections 20 and 22, each of which in turncomprise a plurality of strips or slats such as 24. The slats 24 of eachsection are spaced apart in staggered relationship so that they areinterleaved with each other. Thus, the sections may be extended orretracted with respect to each other in telescopic relationship.

Spacing blocks such as 26 may be arranged one between each strip 24 atthe outer-end portion of each section as shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 4 ofthe drawings. The spacing blocks and the outer ends of the slats of eachsection may then be securely bound together by means of a plurality oftie-rods such as 28 extending through aligned apertures in the spacingblocks and the adjacent strips as shown in Figs. 1 and 3 of thedrawings. The tie-rods 28 may actually comprise headed bolts each havinga head 30 formed at one end and with the other end screwasaasos threadedas at 32 so that a nut 34 may be threaded thereon to secure theassembly. As shown in Fig. 3 of the drawin s the outermost slats 24 maybe undercut so that the ends of the tie-rod 28 are hidden from view.Plugs such as 36 may be inserted in the undercut openings to hide thenut 34 and bolt head 3t) completely from view.

Thus it will be noted that the outer ends of each table section aresecured together by means completely hidden from view so that theappearance of the unit is in no way impaired. It should also be notedthat the width of the spacing blocks 26 i somewhat greater than thewidth of the slats 24. This, of course, provides spacing between theindividual slats the width of which is somewhat in excess of the widthof the slats of the other section which are positioned to slide in aidspaces. Thus, the sections are free to slide in telescopic relationshipone with the other without interference or binding from the adjacentedges of the slats of the other section. The free-sliding relationshipobviously facilitates ready extension or retraction of the unit.

To support and connect each of the opposite free ends of the slats ofeach section 2% and 22 novel means is provided which will now bedescribed in detail. Attention is direction to Figs. 4, 5, 6 and 7 ofthe drawings in which it will be noted that metal cross plates such as38 are secured across the bottom surfaces of the outer ends of the slats24 of each section 20 and 22. Any suitable securing means such as woodscrews 46 may be used. These screw may be threaded through alignedopenings such as 42 in the cross strip 3% and then into the centralportion of the slats 24.

The outer marginal edges of the cross plate 33 are slidingly positionedin channels such as 44, a shown in Figs. and 6 of the drawings. Each ofthe outermost slats 24 of each section 20 and 22 has one such channel 44mounted longitudinally at the bottom thereof. These channels may in turneach be secured by a plurality of wood screws such as 46 threadedthrough aligned opening such as 48 formed through the top leg of eachchannel. The wood screws 46, of course, penetrate into the strips 24,again as shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings. It will thus be noted that theouter or free ends of the slats of one section are secured together bythe cross plate 38 with the marginal ends of said cros plate 38 thensupported in a pair of the channels 44 positioned in the outermost slatsof the other section. The plate is free to slide in said channels. Thusit will be readily perceived that each section is secured, braced andsupported by mean substantially hidden from view and with no portionthereof protruding from any of the outer visible surfaces, including thetop surface of the platform.

The above-described bracing structure may in and of itself be sufiicientto afford the necessary rigidity required of such a structure. However,to augment the bracing means thereby increasing the sturdiness andrigidity of the structure as well a for the purpose of insuring afreesliding relationship between the sections of the platform,additional support means may be provided as disclosed in Figs. 5 and 6of the drawings. This means comprises a tongue such as 50 which may beformed at a polsintermediate the width of the cross plate 38 by strhtinout and bending a central portion of the cross plate The outer marginaledge of the tongue 5% is designed to slidingly fit into another innerchannel 52 which in turn is mounted in recessed relationship in thebottom of one of the slats 24 adjacent the outermost slat, again asshown in 5 of the drawings. This channel 52 may be secured to the slat24 in the same manner as the other channels as by means of wood screws 5threaded through a suitable Opening in the upper leg of the CilLEiu nel52 and into the slat 24. Of course, it should be understood that tongue56 may be formed at any point intermediate the width thereof so thatsaid tongue may be positioned below any of the slats 24, whether ad- 6jacent the outermost one or spaced therefrom. Obviously a correspondingchannel 52 must be provided in the slat selected for alignment with thetongue.

In order to achieve more complete concealment of the bracing andsupporting means, the structure may be slightly modified as shown inFig. 7 of the drawings. In this embodiment similar parts are designatedby like numerals with the added sufi'ix a.

In this embodiment the outer channels .4a are completely recessed intothe bottom of the slats 24a so that the bottom surface of each channelis flush with the bottom surface of the slat. The outer marginal edgesof the cross plate 38a are bent upwardly as at 56 to afford an invertedL with a horizontal outer tongue member 58 adapted to fit in slidingrelationship in the groove of channel 44a. Thus, the bracing means beingcompletely flush or even with the bottom surface of the slats is fullyconcealed so that the appearance of the furniture unit is in no wayadversely affected by the structural supporting and bracing elements ofthe device.

From the foregoing description and drawings it should be readilyapparent that I have provided a novel furniture unit which may bereadily extended or retracted as desired. The unit is so designed thatby varying the mounting or supporting means the use thereof may bevaried accordingly. Similarly by combining several of the units againthe function may be varied. Thus, for example, the number of salts maybe increased to thereby increase the over-all width of the platform, ortwo or more units may be positioned adjacent each other to provide abroadened platform. The platform of the unit comprises a plurality ofsections each composed of a plurality of slats positioned in interleavedsliding relationship so that one unit may be telescoped with respect tothe other. The individual slats of each unit are suitably braced andconnected to afford a sturdy, rigid structure. The bracing andsupporting means are so designed that the same is fully concealed withno parts thereof protruding from any visible surfaces of the platform.

It is believed that my invention, its mode of construction and assembly,and many of its advantages should be readily understood from theforegoing without further description, and it should also be manifestthat while preferred embodiments of the invention have been shown anddescribed for illustrative purposes, the structural details arenevertheless capable of wide variation within the purview of myinvention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United Statesis:

1. In a leg-supported platform article of furniture, an extendableunencumbered smooth planar platform com prising two sets of slatsarranged in interleaved telescopic relationship one set with the other,a plurality of legs mounting said platform in spaced relationship with asupporting surface, a plurality of means securing together the outerends of the slats of each set, a pair of crossplates, one securedtransversely across only the bottom of the free ends of the slats ofeach of said sets, at least one of the marginal edges of each of saidcross-plates protruding beyond the outermost slat of the set to whichthe same is attached, and an elongated channel secured to the bottom ofthe adjacent slat of the other set, said marginal edge of saidcross-plate slidably positioned in said elongated channel.

2. The platform article of furniture of claim 1 in which said meanscomprises a plurality of spacing blocks positioned one between each pairof adjacent slats, a plurality of elongated headed tie bolts threadedthrough aligned openings in said slats and spacing blocks andcooperating nuts threaded on the free end of said tie bolts.

3. In the platform article of furniture of claim 1, a tongue struck fromsaid cross-plate at a point intermediate the width thereof, saidtongueformed with a horizontally disposed outer end portion, and an aux- 6iliary elongated channel secured to the bottom of one of 204,237 MillerMay 28, 1878 said aligned intermediately-positioned slats, said outerend 718,714 Larson J an. 20, 1903 portion of the tongue slidablypositioned in said auxiliary 812,301 Schwedt Feb. 13, 1906 channel.962,691 Andersen June 28, 1910 5 1,267,618 Andersen May 28, 1918References Cited in the file of this patent 1,312,994 Leonard Aug 121919 UNITED STATES PATENTS ,7 68 Harding Aug. 26, 1930 123,372 WalesFeb. 6, 1872 2,12 ,1 Starnck June 7, 1938

